24 February, 2011

The proposed legislation follows the ban on smoking in public places and will force cigarettes "under the counter".

They are normally displayed on shelves at points of sale in corner shops, general stores and supermarkets, but could disappear from view in less than two years.

The SNP administration is also proposing to ban the sale of packs of 10.

Retailers may also have to be licensed to sell tobacco and shops that flout the laws could face cautions and fines.

The proposals form part of a three-year, £9-million drive to discourage young people from smoking and to "denormalise" the habit.

The moves come two years after Scotland became the first part of the UK to ban smoking in public places, and six months after the legal age for buying cigarettes was raised to 18. Pro-smoking groups said the plans would not reduce smoking rates in younger age groups.

Labour plans moves at Westminster for England and Wales, as well as tougher controls on cigarette vending machines. Shona Robison, the public health minister minister, told MSPs on Wednesday that although tobacco advertising was banned in 2002, there were concerns that shop displays were hindering efforts to curb smoking.

"Giving cigarettes pride of place in shops sits uncomfortably with our ambition to create a climate in which everything possible is done to dissuade people, particularly children and young people, from smoking," she said.

"The protection of children and young people from tobacco must be paramount and there are instances, and this is one, when the benefits to the public health of the nation must take precedence.

"In a nutshell, we want to do everything we can to denormalise smoking within society."

The minister said she recognised concern in the retail sector about banning displays, but said they were being used as a promotional tool.

Dr Richard Simpson, for Labour, welcomed the move and said there were worrying signs of a gender gap among young smokers, with 12 per cent of boys smoking at 15 and 18 per cent of girls. The NHS public health director said the action plan was the right package of "tough but sensible" measures to tackle smoking addiction.

Ash Scotland, the anti-smoking campaign, said promotional displays in shops were one of the last bastions of tobacco marketing.

But the proposals, to be introduced in 2009-10, were attacked by the smokers' rights group Forest which said they amounted to a "crude attempt to bully adult smokers into quitting".

A spokesman added: "We will soon be living in a country where pornographic magazines will be on display in shops and not cigarettes."